5.30.2009

THIRD ROUND - Bracket 40 Results

BRACKET #40

Click HERE for first round results.Click HERE for second round results.

RESULTS - Round of 512

(89) 2006 USC - 24(424) 2004 LSU - 17This game featured a great 21st century coaching matchup with Pete Carroll taking on Nick Saban. Marcus Spears and the LSU defense played well against John David Booty and the USC offense, but the USC defense was even better. Keith Rivers picked up an Alley Broussard fumble and returned it for a touchdown in the second quarter just before halftime, and then Kevin Ellison picked off a Marcus Randall pass and returned it for a touchdown on the second play of the third quarter to flip the momentum for good.

(680) 1978 Michigan State - 23(168) 1990 Washington - 30Morten Andersen kicked 3 field goals for the Spartans and receiver Kirk Gibson had another good game, but it wasn't enough to knock of Don James' Huskies. This time, though, Washington's "Purple Reign" defense needed a little help from their offense. Mark Brunell threw for 222 yards and ran for another 56 to get the Huskies in scoring position where tailback Greg Lewis finished three drives with touchdowns.

(217) 1993 Penn State - 23(296) 1977 Florida State - 21This was just the second matchup (of what could be many) of Joe Paterno vs. Bobby Bowden in this tournament. Paterno is now 2-0 against Bowden with his '93 squad topping the '77 FSU squad in this third round game. FSU nose guard Ron Simmons helped lead the charge in shutting down PSU tailback Ki-Jana Carter, but emerging quarterback Kerry Collins picked up the slack by throwing touchdown passes to tight end Kyle Brady and tailback Mike Archie.

(552) 1983 Ohio State - 19(40) 1981 Penn State - 28Joe Paterno set up a bracket semi-final matchup with himself by beating Earle Bruce and the 1983 Buckeyes. Buckeye greats Keith Byars and Mike Tomczak get eliminated.

For an Excel spreadsheet file containing the entire bracket and a search tab to help you find your team, feel free to email me at jimmy.wrench@hotmail.com

HOW WE DID IT:

The Greatest Tournament of All Time is a tournament we are simulating at Pikes Picks that includes the top 2,048 teams from the last 32 seasons of college football. That just happens to coincide with my lifetime (1977-2008).

We developed a power ranking formula independent of statistics that is based on who you played and whether you won or not. That power ranking was applied to all 3,719 teams that played Division 1-A football from the 1977 season through the 2008 season.

The seeding for the tournament was done by ordering all teams by their power ranking. The top 2,048 teams made the field, and were divided into 64 brackets each containing 32 teams. So the 64 brackets will play off, with each bracket winner advancing to the final field of 64, which we are calling "The Bracket of Champions".

The games are simulated using Pikes Picks' own score prediction formula that takes into account factors such as average points per game scored and allowed by each team, as well as whether or not each team usually scores more or less points than is expected of them.

THANKS:

A big thanks to James Howell, whose website provided all the source data to plug into our formulas, and to the USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, the most complete recap of the past 55 years of college football on the market.